Dareth Shiral, Lethallan
by Miss Megz
Summary: What could have happened when the Dalish Warden comes across Tamlen. ***SPOILERS*** Slight AlistarxMahariel


Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age or any of its characters

"What a day," Alistair grumbled and dropped his pack to the ground with a 'thump'. Instead of unpacking his tent, the future King of Fereldan simply unfurled his bed roll and sat on it where the fire would be when firewood had finished being gathered. The group had been travelling to Denerim after giving Arl Eamon Andraste's Ashes to cure him of the poison and the demon's curse; word had reached the travelling band of misfits of a highly skilled Blacksmith in the city and after much bickering, it was decided they would go see him and get some new weapons and armour from the eccentric man.

"Come now, Alistair, it wasn't all that bad, we didn't even fight any Darkspawn today," Wynne reasoned.

"No, no Darkspawn, just bandits, wolves, and Teyrn Loghain's latest attempt on our life," Alistair commented and cast a sideways glance at Zevran.

"But you _are_ still alive," Zevran remarked, "and on a related note, so am I." The Antivan Crow hummed happily, "ah to be alive."

Alistair pointedly ignored Zevran who didn't seem to care in the least, "I don't see why we had to search for fallen branches instead of just cutting down branches for firewood."

"Who is this 'we', Alistair? I did not see _you _out in the woods with us," disputed Morrigan, carrying a large bundle of branches beside a female Dalish elf with long red hair tied in a ponytail that had an equally large bundle of branches. "T'was Lyna and I who collected these," she continued and dropped her load on the male grey warden's bedroll and walked away.

"Hey!" The male grey warden yelled when the branches were dumped on his lap and leapt up to get them off his legs. The female grey warden simply rolled her eyes and shook her head at the antics of her odd companions. _Humans_ she mentally sighed and began working on the fire. "Seriously though, why not just cut the branches down?" He asked.

"When Sylaise(i) gave us fire, she used fallen branches and instructed us to do the same to respect the land," Lyna explained as she arranged the dried grass under the branches.

"Religious nonsense," Sten huffed and folded his arms across his chest and proceeded to watch the treeline with his customary sour look.

The elf glanced over at the Qunari but didn't respond to his comment; she simply went back to starting the fire. "Besides," she shot Alistair a wry look, "fallen branches are a lot drier than ones still attached to the tree and therefore catch fire easier and don't smoke as much."

"You have never started many fires have you, my friend?" Zevran asked the male warden who was still very suspicious of him.

"I didn't have to collect wood when I was in Templar training and I was still a junior recruit for the wardens, so no," he answered slowly. The elven assassin just laughed and returned to his tent after sneaking at peak at Lyna's backside who pretended not to notice.

"I, for one, am simply too happy to be off my feet to care about a smoky fire or not," Leliana sighed and let herself drop onto her bedroll as soon as it was unfolded, Sam(ii) barked in agreement and laid down as well.

"Yes and now is time for some well-earned rest," Wynne concurred and disappeared into her own tent. Slowly, everyone proceeded to fall-asleep to the lullaby of the fire and warm Fereldan wind.

* * *

The fire had burnt itself to embers and the forest surrounding the small camp was silent; the camp was equally silent except for the two wardens tossing in their sleep and moaning. In their shared dream a dragon roared its rage and looked directly at the two remaining Fereldan Grey Wardens. A cry, whether it was the dragons or her own, startled Lyna awake. The Dalish elf sat up and glanced over at Alistair who was sitting upright breathing just as quickly as her and just as pale. He looked over at her with haunted and frightened eyes that she suspected mirrored her own. "Did you feel it too? It was like the Archdemon saw us…_saw us_! What does that mean? Wait…did you hear that?" The male warden got to his feet, looking around for where the Darkspawn would appear.

Lyna grabbed her bow from its resting place beside her bedroll and nocked an arrow while using her Dalish Survival Skills(iii) to further strengthen her warden ability to sense Darkspawn; it took less than a second to identify where the main hoard would attack from. She let her arrow fly into the trees and heard the cry of a struck Shriek. "Darkspawn!" She cried out and nocked another arrow. It took moments for the hoard to burst from the tree line and even less time for her companions to grab their weapons. As always, Alistar and Sten charged forward to deal as much damage to the front lines while relying heavily on Wynne to heal them as they fought. Morrigan stayed just off to the side keeping out of range of swords while casting spells and hexes to defeat her opponents. Leliana and Lyna both remained at a distance using their superior archery skills to take out the other archers and provide long range support for Alistair and Sten; both Sam and Zevran remained near the two archers and healer to defend them against any that tried to sneak up behind them or got around the quick Alistar or the heavy hitting Sten and Asala(iv); with everyone using their strengths and covering eachother's weaknesses, the battle did not last long at all and it was not long before the last Shriek was reduced to rags and the final Darkspawn was fertilizing the grass. "Fortifications should be placed around the camp," Sten remarked as he replaced Asala.

"Huh, what will they send next, Darkspawn tax-collectors?" Morrigan scoffed.

Lyna slung her bow on her back and walked over to Alistair, using the quiet to talk about the dream she had had. The male grey warden recognized the look her eye and faced her, "you had it too, huh? I got the feeling that at the end there that it saw us-was aware of us, whatever you want to call it. It could have just been my imagination, what do you think?"

The Dalish elf shook her head, "I think we should be extra careful from now on."

"I thought we were _already_ being extra careful. Does that mean we have to be extra, extra careful now? Great, there I was enjoying my nap. I guess one thing is for certain though, its official, this is a Blight," he quipped.

Before Lyna could respond, a ragged voice she barely recognized called out to her, "you…Lethallan."

"Mercy of the Gods, it can't be!" She gasped as she stared at her long-time friend; his pale skin had turned dark, his hair had fallen out, and his eyes were bloodshot. Still, standing before her was her dear friend Tamlen.

"Don't…come near me, stay away!" He shouted and ran off. Still shaken from her surprise at seeing her friend since fledgling-hood, she ran after him. Tamlen had always been more nimble than her but the infection he had received from that mirror had affected his speed and she was able to keep up to him. He stopped a short ways away almost completely out of breath to see she had kept up. The Ghoul was torn between trying to run again and staying where he was. He heard her call out his name in the same desperate and heart-broken way he had heard other elves use when they tried to call their loved ones back from the Beyond; what was left of his elven heart could not bear running from her again and hearing that tortured tone so he stayed and let her catch up. It was this same heart that made it impossible for him to look at her straight in the eye, so he tilted his head down and looked at her over his brow. "Don't…look at me! I am…sick!" It took so much for him to just talk coherently and his voice cracked with the effort.

"Tamlen, what happened to you?" Lyna slowly walked closer to her friend so as not to startle him, her own voice cracking with barely contained emotion.

He didn't answer for a moment. "The song…in my head. It…calls to me. He sings to me! I can't stop it!" His voice was getting steadily louder and more excited as he continued before dropping in volume again, "don't want…to hurt you, Lethallan. Please…stop me." He was begging at the end.

Lyna was quiet as it occurred to her just what her friend was asking of her. Her mouth opened and closed several times while she tried to find her voice. The grey warden closed her eyes and forced the tears back before opening them again with a new look of determination in her eyes that appeared to only grow stronger through the unshed tears. She drew her dagger from her waist and gripped the handle tight, "I wish we'd never found that cave."

Tamlen visibly relaxed when he saw she was going to grant his wish. "I'm…so sorry, Lethallan. Never wanted this. Always…loved…you. I'm so sorry," he bowed his head, unable to look at his friend since fledgling-hood.

"So am I," she stabbed Tamlen in the chest and watched him fall to the ground, the dagger still lightly gripped and dripping her friend's black blood.

* * *

Alistair had just sheathed his sword and was heading back to camp when he heard Lyna call out the name "Tamlen" and disappear into the treeline. Not thinking twice, the bastard crown prince ran after her. While Alistair was considered fast for a human, Elves were known to be much faster so it took everything he had just to keep her in sight at all. Finally catching up to where his friend had disappeared, he burst through the underbrush to see Lyna crouching next to a dead Ghoul with tears streaming down her cheeks. The male warden had no idea who the Ghoul had been but he recognized the remnants of Dalish armor and approached.

"Who was he?" He asked gently, unsure of what else to do.

"His name was," she stopped when fresh tears burst forth and her chest started to constrict with the effort to hold back her cries, "…was Tamlen."

Tamlen? Then…he was the one who was with you when you…I'm so sorry. This is what happens when the taint is left unchecked. It…it's better for him, to have it end. It was a mercy," he consoled as best he could.

"I know," she answered quietly and leaned over to close his eyes, "swiftly do stars burn a path across the sky, hast'ning to place one last kiss upon your eye. Tenderly land enfolds you in slumber, softening the rolling thunder. Dagger now sheathed, bow no longer tense. During this, your final hour, only silence(v)." She bowed her head and wiped away her tears only to have more fall in their place. Alistair was struck silent and felt he was seeing something he wasn't meant to see but at the same time couldn't leave her alone. He knew what it was like to lose someone important to you but felt that even his own grief over his lost loved ones put together meant nothing in the face of the Dalish Elf's sorrow. Awkwardly he knelt down beside her and stared at the body before them while she cried silent tears.

* * *

The remainder of the group had just finished burning the bodies when Sam started to bark at the tree line where Lyna and Alistair had gone into without anyone noticing. "Quiet, you useless fur bag!" Morrigan cursed and threw a piece of charcoal at the Mabari who ignored it and kept barking and occasionally looking back at all of them. It was Wynne who caught on to what Sam was doing and walked over to where the dog was.

"What is it?" She asked, holding her staff tight in case it was another wave of Darkspawn.

"Tis nothing! Lyna, silence that mongrel!" Morrigan yelled and looked around when Lyna did not respond, "where is she?"

Leliana looked around and realized it wasn't just Lyna missing, "where's Alistair?" Sam barked again and ran into the shadows of the forest and ran back out again.

Sten and Zevran walked over to where the dog was and studied the animal closely. Being partly raised by a Dalish Elf, Zevran understood what Sam was getting at. "I think he knows where our two wardens have disappeared to," he informed everyone.

"If they're alone, shouldn't we leave them that way?" Leliana asked; it was no secret how Alistair felt about their leader.

"I don't think so, they could be in trouble," answered Wynne, she was not ready to accept the romance budding between the two wardens so any chance to stop it, she took.

"I agree," Sten replied. He would care less about love and it's like but if there was a chance his Kadan was in danger, he would not sit idly by.

"Then it's settled," Wynne smiled and walked into the forest; Sam barked happily and darted in to lead the way. Leliana and Zevran looked at eachother before shrugging and following with Sten at the rear to make sure nothing attacked them from behind. Morrigan let out an irritable sigh and followed after the group.

* * *

Sam broke through the trees first and barked happily at seeing his master again then growling menacingly at the dead Ghoul. Alistair glared at the Mabari. "That's enough," he scolded the war hound, "this isn't an enemy." _Not anymore_ he mentally added. The dog stopped growling and sniffed Tamlen before whimpering at his master who had not said a word while tears still fell.

Wynne was the next to appear. "Are you both al-," the question died on her lips when the scene before her was clear. The elderly mage lowered her staff and bowed her head in respect to the dead. The samething happened with Leliana and Zevran. Morrigan had said nothing and merely looked at the body before turning away return to camp. It was only Sten who was at a loss on what to do. The dead meant nothing to the Qunari but he knew that humans and elves did not hold the dead in the same regard. Still, that did not stop him from speaking his mind.

"Why are you weeping over a rotting corpse," it was hardly a question and everyone knew it.

Still Lyna did not reply but Alistair did. "Are you blind?" He yelled and stood up to further lecture the dark skinned giant.

Sten glared at Alistair with anger and distain, "that isn't a question."

"Neither was what you said a question!" The male Grey Warden yelled. The two were about to get into a yelling match when soft singing was carried on the wind.

"Hahren na melna,

emma ir abelas,

souver'inan isala hamin,

vhenan him dor'felas,

in uthenera na revas.

Vir sulahn'nehn,

vir dirthera,

vir samahal la numin,

vir lath sa'vunin."(vi)

Zevran stopped watching the two grown men argue like children to see the source of the song. The former assassin stopped at Lyna who was softly singing a song that once was a song for the Elves ancient ancestors who slept but had over time turned into a dirge sung when a Dalish elf died. Knowing his course of action, he turned and ran back to camp using his own elven speed that he hadn't before in respect to human companions. He returned a short while later with shovels and discovered that Leliana had started singing as well.

"Elder your time is come,

now I am filled with sorrow,

weary eyes need resting,

heart has become grey and slow,

in waking sleep is freedom.

We sing, rejoice,

we tell the tales,

we laugh and cry,

we love one more day."(vii)

Not stopping, he walked over to Lyna and offered her a shovel. She thankfully took the spade from the elf and started digging beside the body. Any remaining argument between Sten and Alistair died when the two elves started digging a hole in the ground. No one knew what they were doing but didn't dare ask. It was well known that Humans burned their dead but no one knew what Dalish elves did; rumors ranged from leaving the bodies where they dropped to eating the corpses.

* * *

The two stopped when the hole was roughly Tamlen's size and a few feet deep; Zevran stepped out of the hole and returned to where everyone else was still standing dumbstruck. Alistair stepped forward when he saw Lyna moving the body to the hole but was stopped by Zevran who was shaking his head. "It's Dalish tradition for the one who knew the deceased best to place the body," he informed, "if you want to do something fill the grave when the body is in." He handed Alistair the shovel and headed back to camp he knew their leader needed comfort but he also knew it was not him who needed to give it. Following Zevran's cue, Lelianna left as well who touched Sten's arm to signal he should leave too. It took longer for Wynne to leave because she was torn between giving her leader the privacy she needed and stopping the feelings forming between the two now filling in the hole. It was no surprise when her sense of decency won and she left as well.

* * *

Lyna only stopped filling in the hole once to pull a seed out of her waist pack and place it in the ground. The bastard prince watched and then gently placed dirt over top when she poured water from her pouch onto the spot that covered the seed. "We are the Dalish: Keepers of the Lost Lore, Walkers of the Lonely Path. We are the last Elvhenan. Never again shall we submit," she pulled her hair loose of its band and hung her head, using her long locks as a curtain to hide the pained look she couldn't hide anymore, dareth shiral(viii), old friend." She turned to leave back to camp but Alistair grabbed her upper arm and pulled her over to him. Still she used her hair to hide her expression and the tears that fell even more so now that Tamlen was in the ground.

"Lyna, look at me," he softly bade but she stubbornly kept looking at the dirt. "Lyna," he lightly grabbed her chin and tilted her head so she was looking at him, "look at me." He could see clearly her blood-shot eyes that looked sore from her continuous crying and her pained expression and dead eyes that made it look like her own soul had died when Tamlen did. The female warden pulled her chin from his hand and looked at the grave again. "Lyna," he took her face in both hands and turned it to him again, "look at me." She couldn't help but feel there was more behind that statement than what was said. She tried to think on what he could possibly mean but her thoughts kept going back to Tamlen. Alistair had started to see just how deep elven bonds were when he saw what Zathrian(ix) had been willing to sacrifice to get revenge for his son and daughter. Now he was starting to understand their depths. "I don't know what Tamlen was to you and I won't pretend to know," he kept direct contact with her to keep her eyes from wandering back to that grave, "but I do know that he wouldn't want you give in to your grief like you are." The Dalish elf started to say something but he wouldn't let her. "When Duncan and the other Grey Wardens died at Ostagar I was sad, you know I was. I knew they wouldn't want me to give into my sadness though, I knew it. But I wasn't sure if I could respect their memories by going forward with my life. So whenever I started to doubt I could, I looked to the only other Grey Warden around; a Dalish elf who had had no other choice but to leave her clan behind to help the Wardens and save her life, an elf who time and again stared into the face of death and spat on it, an elf who faced insurmountable odds and won," he didn't let go of the sides of her face or stop staring directly into her eyes, what he had to say, she had to hear. "So now it's your turn. Whenever you feel like you can't go on, look at me. Look at the man who faced the condescending nobles over his illegitimate birth, look at the man who forsook becoming a Templar to be a Grey Warden, look at the man who stands here now with you," he moved to let go of her face but her own hands stopped him. Lyna didn't say anything but pulled Alistair down so his face was level with hers and gave him a quick kiss. With her grief no longer distracting her, she realized just how tired she was; body, mind, and soul. It was with quick reflexes that Alistair caught her before her knees gave out. The male warden lifted her bridal style and started to carry her back to camp.

"Thank you," she whispered and let Alistair carry her. _Tamlen, I will never stop missing you but I won't sully your memory by giving into grief. I will continue on my quest and I swear to Elgar'nan(__x)__, I will avenge you, Tamlen._ She thought but was lulled to sleep by the steady heart of the man carrying her.

* * *

i Sylaise, the Hearthkeeper, is seen as the sister of Andruil the Huntress. Sylvaise gave the elves fire and taught them how to weave and to use herbs and magic for healing purposes. (A/N: I don't know if the branch thing is true but it seems fitting for the Dalish)

ii The name I gave the Mabari

iii The character can detect all nearby creatures, no matter what their level, and also gains a bonus to nature and physical resistance. (+10 Nature Resistance), (+2 Physical Resistance)

iv Sten's sword. You have to do his companion quest to get it.

v The poem said for Tamlen when you tell Hahren Paivel he's dead. It seemed fitting

vi In Uthenera from the codex

vii English translation of In Uthenera from the codex

viii Fare you well

ix Keeper of the clan of Dalish elves found in the Dalish Camp.

x God of Vengance

* * *

And that's my tribute to Dragon Age Origins. I couldn't remember what triggers the camp ambush so I just made something up. I didn't include Shale because she's one of the extras that didn't come with the original game so I didn't include her. I set this so it would be before Alistair admits his love for the Warden (you go down that path).

I'm not sure I'm happy with the ending yet so I might change it, we'll see.


End file.
